I have been a fan of Neil Diamond's music since the mid-Sixties when he first released a string of pop hits beginning with "Cherry, Cherry" on the Bang label in 1966. [I strongly recommend his "Classics: The Early Years" which generously covers the Bang years.] However, I've never been a HUGE fan of Diamond's music (ie., I enjoy his singles, but have never felt compelled to buy his albums). So when "His 12 Greatest Hits" came out in 1974, I bought it. When "His 12 Greatest Hits, vol. 2" came out in 1982, I bought it. When "Classics: The Eary Years" came out in 1983, I bought it. When "Glory Road" came out in 1992, I bought it. "Glory Road" made "His 12 Greatest Hits" unnecessary; so now with three CDs I owned all of Neil's hits.

Now, along comes "The Neil Diamond Collection" (less than a year after the now pointless 20th Century Masters collection). Despite the fact that Diamond seems to be competing with The Who as the most anthologized artist on the planet, this latest collection of Diamond's Uni/MCA material is the definitive disc for neophyte Diamond fans. Sure, "Glory Road" covers all these songs, but if you're only looking for the hits this (cheaper) single-disc collection has them all. It not only has classics like "Sweet Caroline," "Holly Holy," "Cracklin' Rose" and "Song Sung Blue," it also includes minor hits like "Walk on Water," "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "Done Too Soon" (which are not included on the 20th Century Masters release).

Diamond was one of the best singer-songwriters of the Sixties and Seventies and any serious music collection should include at least some of his music. Columbia now has the rights to his Bang material and as such "The Greatest Hits 1966-1992" does a stellar job of covering his recordings for those two labels, but it covers his middle period with re-recordings. Now you have "The Neil Diamond Collection" to make it complete. So it's now possible to own every Neil Diamond hit with only two purchases. RECOMMENDED

This just might be the best collection of his, depending on what you want. This is 18 tracks of original excellent "Neil Diamond". It's much better than his "12 Greatest Hits", and way better than "The Millennium Collection". However, only so much fits on one cd, and this is missing alot. There's also the 2-disc "Greatest Hits 1966-1992", and the 2-disc "Essential Neil Diamond", but both of those have numerous live versions of songs, some not so good, and obviously they cost more. Both are great if you don't mind 1/3 live songs. Overall, I would go with this. It's one cd, with only one live song, and the rest are the original classics. Too bad it doesn't have "Heartlight" though.

Anyone who loves listening to Neil Diamond sing will love this CD. All his greatest hits (before the Jazz Singer) are on this CD -- "Sweet Caroline", "Cracklin Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Play Me", "Shilo", "Holly Holy", "I Am...I Said", and more! You couldn't find a better CD of Neil Diamond songs!

You never know what you're going to get with a Neil Diamond Hits collection. Some sample hits that span his entire career, but you don't get them all. Some focus on live renditions of the hits and you miss the studio versions. Some collections only feature material that Diamond recorded with a particular label. So it is no surprise that many fans who simply want the original studio recordings of the hits are frustrated.

I believe that this collection will satisfy the fans of the early, primal Diamond, the Neil Diamond that used to rock AM Radio. This has the original studio versions of many of the early hits: Crunchy Granola Suite, Solitary Man, Cracklin' Rosie, Sweet Caroline, Done Too Soon, Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show, Holly Holy, and more.

This raises another issue with Diamond collections: Many times, he is much better live than he is in the studio! The studio versions of Crunchy Granola Suite and Brother Love just cannot compare with the ones on Hot August Night.

Thankfully, this cd has the awesome version of Cherry, Cherry from the aforementioned Hot August Night.

But for the most part, if you want the best from the studio, you have it right here. I love it. But on the whole, 9 times out of 10, I put on Hot August Night or Live in America.

This cd is choc full of Neil diamond and what he is about. There are many collections that I have heard of his, but this is by far the best. Just the extensive collection of all his best work should make this cd a masterpeice, but a booklet describing his career is thrown in as a bonus. Neil Diamond has a classic tone that has lived through decades of his work. And it is not just for the older people. I am 18 years old and I love the cd. It has a sound that no one (except my communications professor, who seems to be void of all feeling) can deny as great music. Neil at his best, there is nothing more to add.